Operation of electric power plants has ever been carried out for each individual power generating unit in an electric power plant. For example, each power generating unit is allotted with a group of operators including 5 to 6 persons (watchkeepers) with work shift so as to cope quickly with occurrence of abnormal situation of the power generating unit. Automation of the operation of electric power plants has progressed with times, so that number of maintenance workers for the power generating unit can have been surely cut down.
However, there still remains a tendency that number of necessary persons increases in proportion to the scale of electric power plant (number of power generating units) because the operation control form per each power generating unit still comes to stay incorrigibly.
To remedy the situation mentioned above, a general control system for electric power plants has been proposed (refer to the Japanese Laid Open Patent No. Hei-11-356094). The system can prosecute effectively and safely the operation of a plurality of power generating units in a plurality of electric power plants, which has ever been carried out so far per power generating unit, with less work force system by operating generally these power generating units.
However, even in the case where such a latest general control system for electric power plants is actually introduced, all power generating units are not constructed newly but some existing power generating units are combined with new units in most cases.
FIG. 8 is a construction diagram of a traditional operation generalizing system showing the feature mentioned above. GU1, GU2 and GU3 are called No. 1 machine, No. 2 machine and No. 3 machine, respectively, for the sake of convenience, which are existing separate power generating units. To avoid the figure being complicated, the main machine is omitted and valves to be operated, regulating valves and a part of pumps are shown diagrammatically in this diagram. In the description of the present invention, the valve to be operated, the regulating valves, the pumps, etc. are hereafter called “auxiliaries”.
By the way, automatic control levels of these power generating units GU1, GU2 and GU3 are to be different from each other as follows. Namely, the power generating unit GU1 of the No. 1 machine is an example of so-called full automatic control power generating units provided with automatic control programs to control automatically all sorts of auxiliaries in the power generating unit. The power generating unit GU2 of the No. 2 machine is an example of power generating units having an automation level less than that of the power generating unit GU1, to show an example in which a part of the auxiliaries are excluded from the object of automatic control and controlled manually instead. The power generating unit GU3 of the No. 3 machine shows an example of power generating units whose auxiliaries are not automatically operated with a computer, i.e. a power generating unit without automatic control program.
These power generating units GU1, GU2 and GU3 are configured so as to be operated with interactive apparatus (man-machine interface) I/F1a, I/F2a, I/F3a and operation boards OB2a, OB3a in a concentrated operation room (COR) located at a place far from the electric power plants. In this case, the interactive apparatus I/F1a is located corresponding to the power generating unit GU1; the interactive apparatus I/F2a and the operation board OB2a are located corresponding to the power generating unit GU2; and the interactive apparatus I/F3a and the operation board OB3a are located corresponding to the power generating unit GU3. The operators engaged in operation of the No. 1 machine to No. 3 machine are 6 persons except for the operators in the concentrated operation room.
Hereinafter, abstract of operation of the power generating units from the No. 1 machine to the No. 3 machine will be explained one by one starting from the power generating unit GU1 of the No. 1 machine.
The unit computer UC1 of the No. 1 machine has a full automatic control program. The mechanism thereof is that an automation command Ina1 to be prosecuted is outputted based on the operating condition of the plant at that time to operate the power generating unit GU1 when the operator OP1 inputs an operator command In1 through the interactive apparatus I/F1 or through the interactive apparatus I/F1a located in the concentrated operation room COR.
The power generating unit GU1 is configured in such a manner as to start, stop or open/close all the auxiliaries necessary for the operation of the power generating unit GU1 from the unit computer UC1 directly or via the control units CU1a, CU1b. In other words, a motor drive valve MDV1a and a regulation valve RV1 are controlled by the control unit CU1a; a pump P1 is operated by the control unit CU1b; and a motor drive valve MDV1b is directly operated by the unit computer UC1 through a relay board (not shown) constituting an interlock circuit.
The control units CU1a, CU1b are set up in such a manner as to control the auxiliaries in the power generating unit GU1 by executing the program based on the automation command Ina1 when the command is inputted from the unit computer UC1.
The automatic control program of the unit computer UC1 is set up so as to operate sequentially necessary auxiliaries by dividing the start and the stop into a plurality of breakpoints as described later. That is to say, the program is configured as follows: each time a breakpoint has finished, the operator OP1 is informed of the above matter through the screen of the display device of the interactive apparatus I/F1, and then the operator OP1 checks it and presses a progress permission button to make progress toward the next breakpoint.
FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing part of a plurality of breakpoints according to this automatic control program, and explanation thereof will be hereinafter carried out referring to this circuit diagram. A steam turbine power generating unit is employed here as an example. First of all, when {circle around (1)} “seawater system starting breakpoint” has finished (logic signal “1” is outputted), {circle around (2)} “condensate blow permissive condition” has been established (logic signal “1” is outputted), {circle around (3)} “condensate blow operation check PB” being “ON” state (logic signal “1” is outputted) and the “AND” condition is established. Then, {circle around (4)} “condensate blow command” is outputted to the control units CU1a, CU1b.
Thereafter, {circle around (5)} “condensate blow” has finished (logic signal “1” is outputted), then {circle around (6)} “condensate circulation vacuum rising permissive condition” has been established (logic signal “1” is outputted), and further the operator OP supplies permission for proceeding, i.e. {circle around (7)} “condensate circulation vacuum rising operation check PB” is turned ON (logic signal “1” is outputted), so that “AND condition” is effected, and {circle around (8)} “condensate circulation vacuum rising command” is outputted to the control units CU1a, CU1b.
In the explanation described above, “permission for proceeding” by the operator OP1 corresponds to the “condensate blow operation check push button (PB)” being turned on. Breakpoints of the automatic control program of the unit computer GU1 proceed in sequence like the above.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing one example of the sequence in which the operation screen is switched over in accordance with the automatic control program. The unit computer GU1 displays various screens starting from “Screen 1: seawater system start breakpoint” and getting to “Screen 30: starting finished” via “Screen 2: condensate blow breakpoint”, “Screen 3: condensate circulation vacuum rising”, “Screen 4: deaerator blow”, and thereafter respective screens in serial order of the screen number on the display screen of the interactive apparatus I/F1. In FIG. 10, the “rub check” of Screen 17 means check of rubbing degree of impeller blades. The “FA” of the screen 27 means full arc admission mode of steam toward the turbine, and the “PA” means partial admission of steam toward the turbine.
Returning to FIG. 8, abstract of the operation for the power generating unit GU2 side of the No. 2 machine will be explained.
The unit computer UC2 of the No. 2 machine has an automatic control program therein like the unit computer UC1 of the No. 1 machine. The mechanism thereof is as follows: when an operator command In2 by the operator OP2 is inputted through the interactive apparatus I/F2 or an operator command In is inputted through the interactive apparatus I/F2a located in the concentrated operation room COR, an automation command Ina2 is outputted to the power generating unit GU2 by judging the automation command to be prosecuted based on the operating condition of the plant at that time.
The operator command In outputted from the operation board OB2a located in the concentrated operation room COR is to be inputted into the power generating unit GU2 in conjunction with the output of the operation board OB2.
The power generating unit GU2 of the No. 2 machine is configured as follows: though a part of the auxiliaries necessary for operation are operated from the unit computer UC2 through the control units CU2a and CU2b, a part of the remaining auxiliaries e.g. motor drive valve MDV2b are operated by the operation board OB2a in the vicinity of the unit or the operation board OB2 in the concentrated operation room COR, without the aid of operation of the unit computer UC2 and independent of the interactive apparatus I/F2 and I/F2a. The operators OP2a and OP2b are described as different persons in FIG. 8, but may be one person.
FIG. 11 shows automation operation screen pages for explaining breakpoints of the power generating unit GU2 of the No. 2 machine, and the screen page numbers 15, 16, and so on, up to 30 correspond to the screen page numbers of FIG. 10. In this case, each breakpoint proceeds sequentially based on the automatic control program of the unit computer UC2 like the aforementioned power generating unit GU1. However, the operator OP2b carries out manually the operations corresponding to the breakpoints from “Screen 1: seawater system start breakpoint” to “Screen 14: temperature rising/pressure rising breakpoint”, and the operations corresponding to the breakpoints “Screen 28: output power increase 2” and “Screen 29: output power increase 3” of FIG. 10 through the operation board OB2 or at the sites thereof, so that these operations are eliminated from the automatic control program.
Returning to FIG. 8 again, operation of the power generating unit GU3 that is the No. 3 machine will be explained. As described above, the unit computer UC3 does not have the automatic control program to operate automatically the auxiliaries, but has a function monitoring the condition of the plant and a function preparing logs such as daily reports out of the condition signals of the plant, so-called “data logger” as the main functions thereof.
In consequence, in the case of the power generating unit GU3, the unit computer is configured to carry out operations corresponding to the operations at all breakpoints in the power generating unit GU1 of the No. 1 machine, by outputting the operation signals toward the control units CU3a, CU3b through the operation board OB3 by the operator OP3b in the operation room or operating the manual valve MV3 by the operator OP3 at the site.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the automation operation screen at the start time of the power generating unit GU3. The same screens as those of FIG. 10 are represented by the same marks and the explanation thereof will be omitted. In the case of the No. 3 machine, the operations from “Screen 15: aeration arrangement” to “Screen 22: acceleration 3” and the operation “Screen 30: turbine start” are carried out by the control units CU3a, CU3b based on the command from the operation board OB3, and the remaining operations from “Screen 1: seawater system start” to “Screen 14: temperature rising/pressure rising” and the operations from “Screen 23: rating retention parallel-in” to “Screen 29: output increasing” are carried out manually by the operator OP3c.
In the conventional technologies as mentioned above, man-machine interfaces of the system are different from each other in general for each power generating unit because the automatic control levels of the power generating units are different from each other if the construction times thereof are different even though they have been equipped in the same electric power plant.
In the meantime, the conventional technologies mentioned above can provide at the utmost with a system prosecuting operation of a plurality of power generating units, and difference of the man-machine interfaces of the different automatic control systems among respective power generating units is left as it is.
As a result, operators of the concentrated operation room COR must remember different operation methods for each power generating unit to prosecute an appropriate operation without wrong operation or false recognition. This leads to increment of the operator's load or deterioration of operating effectiveness.
The present invention is intended to provide an electric power plant general control system that can operate effectively and safely a plurality of power generating units with fewer operators by forming a system which can operate generally every power generating unit even if the automatic control level for every power generating unit is different from each other.